[LOAH]

I knew time on soft water was running out and I had to get back to Scofield before the ice came. I woke up around 4:40am, but I went right back to bed. I ended up leaving the house close to 8:00. :?

It was nice to at least be able to see the scenery as I went through Sp. Fork Canyon. I love this section:

I arrived around 9:00 to see that the lake was iced. I hoped I could find some open shoreline somewhere and was sourly greeted by a strong sheet of ice up to the dam. Further up, there was a section of shimmering (liquid) water. I parked and head down to try my luck and got some pics to show what it looked like today.

It was pretty sad that the spot by the dam was frozen. I usually do quite well there, but I'd have to make due with what was available.

It wasn't too long before I caught a tiny tiger with a rapala. I kept getting chasers behind my lures, but the fish were sluggish to bite. Ocassionally, I picked up a small fish and let it go.

Finally, my minnow line started pulling out and I got excited. A few moments later, I pulled my minnow out of the mouth of whatever had it. It didn't help that I had much larger minnows than I normally fish with, but the trap was soaking next to a school of minnows and it would only be a matter of time before I got one better suited to the needs of Scofield.

Surprisingly, I missed a couple more on the minnow rod and one of those times, the line was shooting out very quickly from my reel. I managed to land one eventually...It was a tiger about 13 inches long and pretty snakey. I expected larger, but I took it anyway. A little bit later and I had an even smaller fish on my minnow. Good grief.

I hung around and caught a few more dinks with lures and got lucky enough to get one more fish with a minnow. This was a first for me, but it was a BROWN!!! Out of Scofield!!!

I'd heard about browns in Scofield, but I'd never seen one. This girl was fat, too. She was only 17 inches long, but she was really round, considering most of the browns I've seen. What a treat.

This would be my last fish for the day. It was good to get a little bit more still water fishing in before the evil ice monster takes over for a few months. Looks like I'll be playing in the river a bit more for awhile.

Happy Fishing, Humans.

 

[.45]

Nice fatty !!! That glimmering across the lake don't look good LOAH... :mrgreen: ...Kinda looks like you didn't have to much of a crowd to contend with ??

Well, glad you got out anyway...

See you on the river's !!!! :mrgreen:

 

[kastmaster]

Good lookin' brown! Sad to see the softwater season coming to an end, but my ice auger has been feeling a bit lonely these past couple of days. Scofield is one of my favorite spots to hit in the early ice season.

 

[Greenguy88]

Good job at Scofield LOAH, and I loved seeing your pics... Ice is coming! :mrgreen: I hope it will be a few more weeks and Ill be out there on Scofield. Thats a fatty brown you got there too, good lookin.

 

[J-bass]

I hung around and caught a few more dinks with lures and got lucky enough to get one more fish with a minnow. This was a first for me, but it was a BROWN!!! Out of Scofield!!!

I'd heard about browns in Scofield, but I'd never seen one. This girl was fat, too. She was only 17 inches long, but she was really round, considering most of the browns I've seen. What a treat.

See, I told you I got a brown outta there!!! I'm glad to hear you snagged one too, and got some great photos as well. Good luck on the rivers, hope you land some bigguns.

 

[orvis1]

Thanks for the report, the ice monster does take over for a few months, but when he pulls back the softwater fishing is great! Time for full michelen man wear, iced guides, trudging through the snow to fish....

 

[Nibble Nuts]

That is a beauty of a brown LOAH. Good to hear you still had enough open water to fish.

Michelin-Man wear, that is good Orvis. I usually look like a cross between Elmer Fudd and a lumberjack when I ice fish.

 

[JAT83]

Nice work! That's a fat lil' brown!

 

[FROGGER]

sweet, good to see the ice taking over, few more week and we should be set. thanks for the post and pics....

 

[FC2Tuber]

Looks like I'll be playing in the river a bit more for awhile.

What... no ice fishing????

 

[LOAH]

I'm sure I'll end up trying it this year with several different people who are determined to get me out there, but it won't be weekly. It probably won't be until I have more confidence in what I'm walking on.

Plus, I've ignored the wonderful running water resources that surround me for most of the "good season". It'll be nice to get back on the river. Only problem is that the fish aren't as quick to bite at a blue fox when it's so cold. I'll have to use a lot of worms, I think.

I suppose I could still fish Deer Creek for another month and a half before it's frozen. I remember fishing last year on 12-31 and it was open water...Sure it was about 30 feet deeper then, but we'll see.

 

[STEVO]

but it won't be weekly

You better give it a try before you make that assumtion :lol: . Im telling you, Its addicting if you can get into the fish. Its kind of a bummer on a slow day, but once you have one of those 50 fish days through the ice, you will be counting down the monthes during the summer until you can get back out there. Get the wife & kid out in their snow gear & have some fun. Its actually suprising how hot it can be out on the lake. There have been days when the sun is shining that you swear it is in the 80's, even though the thermometer only shows the 30's You aint lived until youve ice fished in yer t-shirt!!!! :lol:

 

[orvis1]

LOAH, chose the darkside wintertime flyfishing.... No dry fly purists on the river it is a nymphers paradise! Just your guides ice up, you boots collect big balls of snow you have to kick off, it is cold as crap, and you feel like the michelin man in all your gear. Other than that is is great! I do it only about once a month in the winter season, might go out this sat...

 

[Greenguy88]

You aint lived until youve ice fished in yer t-shirt!!!! :lol:

Oooo yeah! That means I've been livin' LARGE! Those are awesome days on the ice. :mrgreen:

Awesome ive been livin the high life as well! LOAH you just might become addicted to ice fishing, like its been said, if your gettin into em its a blast! I know im a weekly ice fisherman when the lakes ice over, or at least I try to.

might go out this sat...

Orv shoot me a pm if you go out this Sat!

 

[mjschijf]

Hey LOAH I'm glad you were able to find some liquid water at Scofield. :lol: It must have felt nice to catch that fat 17 inch Brown. Congrats on the catch, and thanks for another great report!

 

[LOAH]

Hey! Whattaya doin' on the forum? Get back to your studies!

Just kidding. Thanks for the response. Hope school is treating you right (pretty SoCal girls).

 

[mjschijf]

Hahaha yeah I know I haven't posted for quite a while. This has by far been my busiest and toughest semester yet in college but trust me I haven't forgotten about this forum. I've been checking out the reports and stuff...just haven't had a whole lot of input to give lately since I haven't been fishing in a while. I miss having my line in the water! Hopefully you will all be hearing more from me the next couple of months. But enough about me...it's good to see that the reports keep coming from all of you guys on these forums, and that more and more members keep joining.

Oh, and P.S...Pretty So Cal girls? Where? :wink: :lol:

 

[flyguy7]

Good point Orvis1! Nymph all winter long cause we all no there are no midge hatches in January and February and even if there was we all know that they dont feed off the surface then! :lol:

PS, get boots with rubber soles and tungsten carbide studs. They still get great traction (i have the big gnarly korkers 3/8" studs and they are better than standard feld/studs) plus it isn't like you are walking around in stilts, trying to kick frozen snow off the bottoms. Many shops have the discontinued Simms guide boot with the studded aquastealth sole on sale now.